Farah: Democrats and the Real War on Women

Joseph Farah is rootin’ tootin’ mad about the Republicans being called out for their war on women, so he’s decided to use the classic “I know you are but what am I” argument and say no, it’s the Democrats that have declared war on women. And his argument is really quite amusing. But let’s start here:

They went ballistic when Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin made his unfortunate slip of the tongue about “legitimate rape.”

Sorry, that was not a slip of the tongue. It wasn’t a misstatement. It was what Todd Akin actually believed. He really believed, as do many of the fundamentalist mindset, that a woman’s body can just shut down when they’re raped so they don’t get pregnant. That’s because they’re incredibly ignorant, about this and practically everything else.

They seized on every opportunity to portray Republicans as misogynist creeps.

And the Republicans gave lots of opportunities by actually being misogynist creeps, like passing bills to require invasive ultrasounds before having an abortion. But now we’re getting into the substance — and I’m using that term loosely — of his argument for why it’s really the Democrats who have declared war on women:

But, once again, the evidence continues to mount that if anyone is actually practicing a war on women, it is the Democrats.

The latest example is the son of re-elected Rep. James Moran, who pleaded guilty two weeks ago to battering his girlfriend, smashing her head into a metal trash can outside a Washington bar earlier this month, leaving her with a skull fracture and broken nose.

Yep, that’s it. The son of a Democratic politician beat up his girlfriend, which proves that Democrats have declared war on women. Seriously, they’re not even trying any more.

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

slc1

It should be pointed out that Congressman Moran was accused by his 2nd wife of being abusive.

jamessweet

Yeah, the Akin “misstatement” thing… some conservatives, Farah among them, apparently still believe that what everybody was up in arms about was a misunderstanding of the phrase “legitimate rape”. No, Joe, we knew what Akin meant by that: He didn’t mean that rape could ever be “legitimate”, he simply meant that sometimes the women is really unwilling, and sometimes she’s a slutty-slut-slut.

Akin’s “apology” was almost hilarious in its facepalmery. I almost thought he was intentionally thumbing his nose, but alas I think he really didn’t get it. In any case, if it was nose-thumbing, it was classic. It would be like if I said, “Joe Farah is complete tool” and then when I apologized I said, “Oh, I’m sorry, what I meant to say was Mr. Farah is a complete tool”. Yeah, ummmmmmmmm….

It was what Todd Akin actually believed. He really believed, as do many of the fundamentalist mindset, that a woman’s body can just shut down when they’re raped so they don’t get pregnant. That’s because they’re incredibly ignorant, about this and practically everything else.

Ignorance helps, but I think largely it’s because they want to believe these things (or alternatives such as god interfered to cause the conception) as otherwise they have to face the fact that they are terrible people.

John Hinkle

They went ballistic when Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin made his unfortunate slip of the tongue about “legitimate rape.”

Despicable. I wonder if Farah knows the word opprobrium.

Sastra

It was what Todd Akin actually believed. He really believed, as do many of the fundamentalist mindset, that a woman’s body can just shut down when they’re raped so they don’t get pregnant. That’s because they’re incredibly ignorant, about this and practically everything else.

It’s not just the Republicans that are this ignorant. People in general hold to a lot of pseudoscientific beliefs on pregnancy. Think of the popular trope of the wife who can’t get pregnant even though she’s doing everything right physically — the problem is her mental state. She’s too worried, or wants it too much, or is under stress, or thinks about it more than she should and thus interferes with “nature” — or some other version of the “think your way to good health” mantra. A Republican could have picked this idea up from the culture at large. It doesn’t come out of the fundamentalist mindset exclusively.

Since it’s a false mantra, though, people can — and often have to — use it selectively. Liberals usually don’t apply it to rape. Conservatives do, for reasons others mention above. But the concept that a woman’s emotions can ‘block’ a pregnancy? Akin didn’t invent it for the purpose.

He’s an asshole for other reasons.

cry4turtles

It’s not over. I saw Jeb Bush say this morning that the GOP needs to change the way they deliver their message, not their “values”. In other words-lie.

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About the Author

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. Read More...